Dementieva to miss Wimbledon

World number five
Elena Dementieva’s run of 46 consecutive grand slam appearances will come to an end after she failed to recover from a calf injury in time for Wimbledon.

The Russian struggled with the problem during the French Open and retired after a set of her semi-final against eventual winner Francesca Schiavone.

Elena Dementieva

A brief statement on her website, http://www.dementieva.ru, said: “Elena Dementieva will not play at Wimbledon this year. She hasn’t recovered from the calf injury that forced her to retire at Roland Garros.”

Dementieva has reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the last two years and pushed Serena Williams all the way 12 months ago before eventually losing out 8-6 in the third set.

The 28-year-old has been a fixture at the grand slams for more than a decade and Wimbledon will be the first major she has missed since her debut at the Australian Open in 1999.

Dementieva reached the finals of the French and US Opens in 2004 but her run of 46 grand slams without winning a title is a record.